It's a Vessel Problem
by michellewritesfics
Summary: Castiel is experiencing vessel difficulties, but he doesn't want to bother the Winchesters. Luckily, someone else is there to take care of him. Oneshot.


Pairings: hint of Dean/Castiel, hint of Gabriel/Castiel

* * *

His nose was stuffy. He couldn't breathe. His eyes welled up and were starting to get puffy. At times, when he would eat, he wouldn't even _taste_ anything. Something was wrong.

He didn't know how to fix it. He would've asked the Winchesters for a cure, or hell, something to make it go away temporarily, but he didn't want to bother them. Dean was fixing the Impala. The wheels would swerve too much and Dean said that the vehicle needed to look better. He was spending the day cleaning the car, inside and out. As for Sam, he was busy trying to research up on a recent case. A murder. Four people in a span of two weeks. The murderer would always leave some kind of hidden note around the scene of the murder. Nothing popped up that seemed connected to the murders, but Sam wasn't going to give up.

His blue eyes started to water again and with each blink, water would trail down his cheeks. Castiel made a small groan and wandered about the town, looking for a store that would provide any remedy for what he was experiencing. His walk wasn't the most lively. In fact, it resembled one of a zombie's walk; slow and steady. Castiel continued to walk in this manner for a few blocks until he grew tired and abandoned his mission.

Leaning against the wall of a building, the angel traveled his eyes at the surrounding. Mainly on the humans. All their different and unique faces. It pleased him. How his God would make such beings so different yet alike to each other. They all looked healthy. Especially the children. He wanted to be healthy, but he didn't know how to cure this sickness.

From the corner of his eye, Castiel found a familiar head of hair. Pinching his eyebrows together, he blinked, wondering if what he was looking at was real. And it most definitely was. His eyes bulged and having pushed himself from the wall, he followed the human. Castiel gently shoved his way closer and once he had gotten a clear view of the back of the individual, Castiel noticed something. He looked so strange, like he was something else. Something other than human. His walk was casual and he wore the most simplest attire Castiel's seen in a while. Castiel spotted a jade green long-sleeved shirt and a pair of worn out jeans. Though, his shoes didn't seem to compliment the rest of his appearance. Black dress shoes that seemed to be brand new.

The human stopped and turned around, a wry smile on his face. "Hey."

Castiel opened his mouth, struck with awe. "You…" He couldn't believe what he was looking at. This person, this… this couldn't have been him. It just couldn't.

"What's the matter? Looks like you just saw a ghost!" The man laughed cheerfully, moving to Castiel's side, and bringing an arm around the angel's neck. "Man, you look sick! You all right?"

"_Gabriel_," Castiel started, his initial emotion sweeping away from his system. He wiped just under his nose, the mucus sliming over the back of his hand. "You aren't dead…?" He saw Gabriel shake his head and making another laugh. He missed it. Hearing his brother's laugh. Seeing his smile. He missed him. So much. "How?"

Gabriel snorted and began walking, tugging Castiel to walk with him. "Well, you see, buddy, there's a thing called 'faking your own death'. Again. I'm quite an expert at it." He winked at his younger brother. "Really, Cassie, are you okay?" He asked once again, worry painted on his face.

The black-haired angel shook his head. "My vessel is experiencing problems. I haven't had this problem before, I don't know how I retrieved this disease."

"Yikes," Gabriel said, no distinct emotion spewing from the word. "Okay, how about I get you some soup and tuck you to bed?" He saw Castiel shake his head again. "What?"

Castiel sniffled before he replied. "I think I will be able to manage without your help."

His older brother didn't seem so convinced. He heard Castiel let out a loud sneeze. "No, no. I think ya need to be taken care of. C'mon, buddy." He tangled his arm around Castiel's and with a snap of his fingers, they ended up at a motel room.

The room wasn't so pleasing to the eye. The wallpaper was peeling at some places and the place was filled with the scent of cigarette smoke. There were only two beds and they weren't even made. The bedsheet of one bed was hanging at the side while the other bed had its pillows thrown to the ground. The colors were dull in the room. A shade of peach for the wallpaper and white for the ceiling. Spots of gray and black inhabited a corner of the ceiling, which made Castiel grimace.

"I don't like this place," Castiel commented bluntly.

Gabriel simply rolled his eyes. His arm still wrapped around his sick brother's, the archangel snapped his fingers again, bringing them to another motel. It was fairly simple. Something that Dean and Sam would have settled in. Unlike the last motel room they were in, the room was much more colorful. The wallpaper had a design, somewhat vintage. There was a ceiling fan, which made a noise as it propelled to create air. It also wobbled, which worried Castiel, made aware when he had a brief look of fright as he looked up. The television was small and had the television remote had some buttons pulled out from it. Again, unlike the other room, there was only one bed. It was neatly made and there were three pillows stacked near the headboard. A mini-fridge settled near the bed and a desk on the other side of it.

"D'you like it?" Gabriel asked and witnessed his brother give him a nod. "Great. Now settle down on the bed." Castiel sat on the bed and Gabriel, sitting beside Castiel, patted down the pillows, creating a dent for Castiel's head to rest on. "All right."

Castiel placed his head on the dent that Gabriel made and wiped his nose with his hand, the mucus trailing on his fingers.

With a groan, Gabriel snapped up a tissue box and grabbed at Castiel's wrist, wiping the slime off his brother's fingers with a tissue. "Come on. Don't do that. That's unhealthy." He trailed his eyes up from Castiel's now clean hand to his face. Seeing that Castiel's giving him a look. A hardened look. One that he hadn't been given for _years_. "Yes, your majesty?" Gabriel mocked, raising a brow in curiosity.

"Why are you doing this?" Castiel finally questioned, still addressing his look to his brethren. "You're not usually like this. You would rather mess with the Winchesters or pulling some prank on an innocent." He knew that Gabriel wasn't the caring type. Maybe that was the wrong phrasing. He knew that Gabriel was capable of caring and maybe even empathy, but he would never express his affection through actions. Especially not through taking care of the sick. It confused him. He's known Gabriel for as long as he could remember and never done anything this compassionate.

It shocked Gabriel, for it looked like he was paralyzed. His mouth gaped open, both prepared and unprepared to answer. He didn't know what to say. For once. Though, after a moment of thinking, he closed his mouth and leaned over to give Castiel a lingering kiss on the cheek. He felt Castiel tense up and he brought a smirk, moving away from him. Seeing Castiel even more confused than before. It was hilarious. Not as amusing as the things he would see on a daily basis, but Gabriel liked it.

They continued to stare at each other. Castiel, still with a perplexed look, and Gabriel, still keeping a smirk on his face. The longer the silence resumed, the longer the awkwardness settled in Castiel. He wanted answers and Gabriel refused to answer.

And just when he broke out to ask once again, Castiel saw Gabriel snap up a bowl of chicken soup. "Oh…" Settling his eyes on the bowl and its contents, Castiel let out a groan. "I'm not hungry."

"Doesn't matter. It'll help. Or that's what the TV media thinks so." Gabriel scooped up a spoonful of the liquid and brought it to Castiel's lips. Hearing Castiel let out a wince made him snort. "Oh, come on. Just drink it, you baby." Castiel did so and he gathered up another spoonful. "Good boy." Still having his eyes on Castiel, he watched the other angel produce an unpleased expression. Gabriel tilted his head. "Did I hurt wittle Cassie's feewings?" He let out a brief, hearty laugh right after he gave the comment.

After Castiel was done with the bowl of soup, Gabriel made the empty bowl disappear with a wave of his hand. The tissue box was still on the bed, but he didn't bother to move it. Just in case Castiel decided to need his nose wiped. "Scoot over, fatass." Gabriel muttered and Castiel snapped back with a 'I do not have a fat…' but it just made Gabriel's mood even better. "I'm kidding. Sheesh. Thought you would've gotten used to it with Dean-o. Since he, y'know, makes fun of you every chance he gets." He saw Castiel lower his head, hiding a frown. "Does being sick make you turn into a big softy?" Patting at Castiel's leg, which Castiel noticed the gesture and moved over, Gabriel lied on the bed with his brother. "Or did being with the Winchesters too long make you into one big kitten?"

Castiel huffed, almost childishly, and folded his arms. He turned his head away from his insulting brother. Exceptionally childish, Castiel was being. He felt Gabriel wrap his arms around his body, pulling Castiel closer to him. As a reaction, he moved frantically about, kicking the tissue box from the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging you."

"_Why_ are you doing this?"

"Because I can." Gabriel pressed his face at Castiel's back, kissing the trench coat with a loud 'mwah!'

Again, silence fell into the room. Gabriel, still hugging Castiel, and Castiel, not sure whether to pull away from him or not. The quietness eventually lolled Castiel into a dormant state. He had his eyes closed and his breathing, minus the short sniffling, was deep. He had fallen asleep.

Gabriel sat up from the bed and hovered over to look at Castiel. "Aw, man. You fell asleep?" He asked aloud, particularly to no one. "Whatever." Gabriel went back to his previous position, but with more space between the two beings. "Hey, Cassie?" No answer. Just as he suspected. "It's been a while, you know? Since I've seen anyone. Balthazar, Lucifer, Michael, Zachariah. All those other dicks. You're the first I've seen for a damn long time." He paused, still locking his eyes on Castiel. Again, no response. "I hope you can freaking hear me. I'm spilling out my… stupid human-y feelings. Anyway, uh, I seriously thought you guys were all dead. After you told yourself you were God and… yeah." He didn't want to get too into it. But he couldn't stop himself. "I thought you were all dead. You. You complete _asshole_. I thought you were dead. I thought you were going to leave me all alone." Crinkling his nose in disgust, mainly at himself, mainly at expressing his feelings verbally, Gabriel continued, "I love you, Cas." He wanted to say something, but decided to go against it and said something else instead, "but if you do something stupid like that again, I'll come back and kill you myself. Or your boyfriend." With the end of that statement, Gabriel grabbed a firm hold onto Castiel's head and snapped his fingers, teleporting them into the motel the Winchesters were staying at. The brothers were gone and he pushed Castiel on one of the beds.

By the time Castiel woke up, which was a couple hours or so, he saw Dean and Sam sitting in front of the laptop, sharing a bed. "Hello, Sam. Dean."

"Sup, man?" Dean waved at him, but didn't let his eyes move away from the laptop's screen. "Where've ya been?"

Castiel was disoriented. He just woke up from a nap. And the room was spinning a little. "Um… I don't-I don't know." Castiel, having found himself in the motel Gabriel-less caused him to think that it could've just been a dream. Maybe he was so sick that he dreamt up Gabriel. It was all just a dream. Still, even if he had thought that it was a dream, it wouldn't have made sense. He remembered walking around town and meeting Gabriel. Or was that part of the dream, too? Hell. Castiel wasn't sure anymore. "I think I've been here this whole time."

"But you were gone for a little while. Said you needed to do something," Sam pointed out, turning to look at Castiel.

Dean nudged at Sam's arm with his elbow. "But you were helping me with the car for a little bit. He could-a sneaked into the room when we weren't looking. Y'know how angels are. They're sneaky bastards."

"I guess so." Castiel gulped, still settling comfortably in the bed. He stared at the ceiling. It was probably a dream. Or maybe it was real. Castiel didn't think about it too much. He was all too happy to see Gabriel, whether in reality or in his dreams. Castiel missed his brother sometimes and he was just glad. For that moment, he was content.

Perhaps he was too sick to remember anything. It could've just been another vessel problem.


End file.
